Posts Categorized: Firefighter Training
Andy Fredericks Training Days – Updated!
The first day of the Andy Fredericks Training Days was a great success! The largest group ever to attend the annual three-day conference arrived at the communal breakfast buzzing with energy and brotherhood despite the early hour.
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Resolutions.
It's a yearly thing that I notice in my gym; right around this time of year, the stations seem to be busier, the cardio room is more crowded, and the wife can never seem to find an open elliptical machine. "What gives?" I always ponder, as I turn away from yet another several-deep line in front of a station. Then it hits me, just like it always does.
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Random thoughts from last tour.
Don't stick your head too far out the window to look at stuff when driving around—while wagon drivers are quite adept at avoiding obstacles, tree branches don't really count.—————Chicken gravy is a rather unprofessional thing to find …
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Expectations.
"Holy shit—she's having a baby!"I couldn't help but laugh; what is this, a bad movie? Get me some towels and hot water! And ring Doctor Swanson, immediately! The way-too-excited MPD officer went sprinting past me; admittedly, I …
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We’re everywhere…
News sites, blogs, beer, wine, art, barbeque sauce, cookbooks, workout programs...The list goes on and on. Every time I look online, there's a new product/service/business offered from, inspired by, or aimed at firefighters. It's always interest…
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The Farm: a brief introduction.
"Weren't you guys trying to grow something out here a while back?"The wagon driver turned from the engine's pump panel and rubbed a thoughtful hand on his chin."Yeah, we had tried growing corn out back of the firehouse... don't…
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Projects.
On the way back from a call, I often think that there were certain situations/moments that would have lent themselves very nicely to a photographer's presence. It's the potential action shots, mostly; but there are of course some interesting, com…
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Details.
A page from The Writer's Block, a cube-shaped book (get it?) full of random ideas to jump-start the creative half of your brain. I was flipping through it the other day and found this page."Paramedic Engine 15 and Ambulance 15…
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WeLoveDC.com; publicity for RL!
Tom Bridge, co-founder and author of WeLoveDC.com came across Raising Ladders the other day, and he liked it so much that he posted a brief write-up in the WLDC daily feed.WeLoveDC.com is a collective blog written by a diverse population of authors who …
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A different view of D.C.
The John H. Glenn Jr., Washington, D.C.'s 70'-long flagship fireboat. It was built in 1962 for the FDNY, and was purchased by DCFD in 1977 for one dollar.All the air inside my drysuit escaped with an audible whoosh as I stretched the rubbe…
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The next hoop.
Some good news is being passed around today. I've received word that a handful of us paramedics are being pushed along into the next stage of the DCFD pipeline, starting Monday. There's some meetings, some more paperwork (I'm sure), but it at…
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History.
"Y'all better be alert! Best pay attention over here!"The members of Engine 15 and a truck company were standing around the scene of a gas leak; we had just shut the supply off when our attention was drawn to the shirtless man quickly walki…
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Enjoying the fireworks.
We pulled up to the building on 12th street and hopped out. Taking a second to scan the street, I saw only a single truck company and Rescue 3 pulling up beside us."Uh... aren't we fourth due?""Yep. Come on, rook... let's run the …
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A refreshing viewpoint.
As paramedics, myself and my colleagues in recruit school have been hearing the same story since Day 1: "Well, just because you're a paramedic, you're going to catch flak from people in the department because they don't like EMS in gener…
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Acclimation.
"Ow, shit! Sorry, man."In the dim red light in the back of the cab, I could barely make out the "ah, it's okay" shrug that the lineman gave me. I mean, there's usually only two people being tossed around in the back of the eng…
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Evaluation.
Great news for the medics who were formerly stuck in limbo: we've been approved to stay on shift work, so we're being assigned temporary spots on engines until we complete all of our evaluations. We need a certain number of calls (and the accompa…
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Breaking: Shooting at 14th/Irving, NW.
Joe McNally, a famous National Geographic photographer, once said:"If you want to be a better photographer, stand in front of more interesting stuff."As opposed to standing, sometimes an opportunity comes along that's just so well-placed in…
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A week in the street.
After a long week, we received some great news on Friday. Starting tomorrow, we paramedics are being sent to the street to ride on an engine company with a FF/PM for a total of forty hours. We'll be on varying schedules; for instance, I'm w…
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Standing by.
(AP) WASHINGTON – An 88-year-old gunman with a violent and virulently anti-Semitic past opened fire with a rifle inside the crowded U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum on Wednesday, fatally wounding a security guard before being shot himse…
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The final burn.
Uh... either we're extremely dehydrated and exhausted, or the headless fireman from the Sleepy Hollow Fire Department is haunting the burn building. Either way, it's probably time for us to go.—————"I haven't seen …
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The last week.
It's been a long week, for sure; but we only have four more days until graduation on Friday.Attitudes range from exhausted to exasperated, but I think the common theme amongst all of us is one of excitement. You see, 74% of the class received their s…
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Burn Week, part 2: external sites.
More complicated than an 8th grade field trip; did everyone remember to bring their permission slips?
Now is the week when we do some real burns. Our Class A building yesterday was at the Loudoun County, VA Fire/Rescue Training Facility (a fun fla…
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Practice.
Our two Burn Weeks are less than seven days away, and it looks like we'll be run ragged in preparation for them. We're all itching to get into the Class A* building at the other Academy we'll be going to, so it's hard to keep the energy …
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Truck company operations.
Dammit. Just when I thought I'd comfortably accepted my role as a firefighter/paramedic, forever riding the engine (since DCFD doesn't put paramedics on the trucks), we had to go and practice truck company operations. I'm torn; yet I pine fo…
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Trust your team.
"This is a big bitch!""Ugh... you ain't lying," I grunted as I drove my body upward and pushed the weight over my head. Side-by-side, Bill and I were in the process of raising the largest extension ladder that DCFD has. A s…
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